


LOYALTY OF WOLVES

by cryinghoe



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe Where Azula and Zuko switch with Katara and Sokka, Badass Sokka, Bloodbender Katara, Not Beta Read, Other, Posting This Was Hard, This Work Is Troublesome, We Die Like Men, sorry in advance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:42:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26035870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cryinghoe/pseuds/cryinghoe
Summary: the avatar has arrived, only to see that the watertribe is attacking the fire nation. what will he do?
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	1. enter: the bloodbender & swordsmen.

𝘼𝘾𝙏 𝙄 - 𝙋𝘼𝙍𝙏 𝙊𝙉𝙀. 

“azula.” a nagging tone distracts her from the cave, she was looking for ty lee’s necklace.

“what do you want?” she snaps at him, furiously turning her head to the scarred boy.

“do you see that rock over there?” he asks, pointing something in the darkness.

“no, it’s pitch black in here and i’m busy looking for something!” her tone becomes edged as she continues, lifting up a few rocks only to find the golden chain with a jewel heart on it sitting on the edge of a little ridge in the cave.

flames emit from zuko’s hands, lighting as if they were torches. he stalks forward, deeper into the cave until he gets a good look at the rock. perfectly round with no sharpness to it, as if an earthbender had gently waved their hand over it and it healed itself. there were cracks, however. large and deep cracks that glowed--glowed?

“azula!” he calls louder and he hears an irritated sigh, before she walks over and looks at what he was looking at.

she’s silently stunned as she places a hand upon the piece of earth. it’s warm, as if it had been in the sun, although the cave was cool. it was shaking, which made her back step.

“zuzu,” she looks to her brother, “as much as i’m glad you found a rock for a friend, it’s shaking. we have to leave.”

it convinced him, he grabbed her hand as the shaking began to become audible. their legs pumped and their lungs burned (who knew they were that deep in a cave), but before they could even get completely out, harsh wind came from the back of them and glued them to the floor, hair whipping around as the wind hardened.

“what did you do!?” he screams, looking to his sister, who is just as frustrated and confused.

“what did i do!? you were the one who found it, stupid!” she yells back, but the wind comes to a slow stop.

she stands back up first, looking back to where the rock was, but now it was shattered and there was a little figure in there, slowly standing. zuko rushes over, with azula hot on his tail and they look inside. he’s pale and covered in dirt, but forever long he was in there, he looked young.

“hello?” he asks, his voice tired.

“do you know where you are?” zuko asks, being kind and caring was more difficult for azula as the other firebender studied the man.

“...i… i think i’m in the fire nation?” he’s confused, rubbing at his bald head.

they have a useless conversation (for azula, at least) as she studies him up and down. his outfit reminds her of an ancient historical robe, but she can’t remember what nation it came from. it was orange and yellow, ranging from the shade of mustard to the deep shade of honey. there were blue tattoos traveling up his arms, all the way from his bald head to the bottom of his feet.

“i’m the avatar,” he looks away, “i… ran away because i didn’t want anyone finding out.”

“i understand,” zuko admits, “i tried doing the same, but i knew where my heart laid.”

“didn’t the fire nation attack the air nomads?” he speaks cautiously now, glancing back and forth between the two.

“yes,” azula nods, “but… ever since our father has come into the picture, we’ve been trying to accept it as our nation's history. behalf of our nation, i know we are so sorry. our great-grandfather was a horrible and ruthless man.”

the avatar pauses for a moment. he had ran away from the air nomads to hide from his avatar duties, just as he did, the fire nation was attacking the air nomads. where did he go and decide to hide? the fire nation, which had apparently changed its ways since then. the silence is nice, but unwelcomed by him. he had been stuck in rock silence for years.

“how old are you?” zuko asks, raising his one brow.

“well, i’m twelve. that’s how old i was when i ran away.” he nods.

“oh. well, avatar, i’m azula and this is my brother, zuko.” she introduces herself with a bow, then points to her brother who follows suit.

“my name is aang. it’s a pleasure to meet the both of you here. would i be allowed to stay where you two are?” he’s innocent, like a little brother to both azula and zuko.

“sure, but our dad might freak out a little bit. don’t mind the guards or anything,” azula casually answers as they begin to walk out of the cave, avoiding the people at the beach as much as possible, “but, it’ll be a nice place for you to stay.”

“guards?” aang’s curiosity peaked, he had so many questions and so little time.

“yeah,” zuko answers as he lifts up a branch for the three of them to walk under, straight to the palace, “we’re the kids of the firelord.”

[-]

sneaking aang into the palace was no hard task, azula had done it plenty of times before with her friends before her dad approved of them. what was difficult, was avoiding her father. the worst thing he would say is to kill the avatar, but judging by the guilt that he plagued him ever since he was little, it probably wouldn’t happen.

“zuko? azula? where are you two?” their father calls out, making zuko panic and shove aang into his room, who yelps on the way in, but hides near the door so he can listen.

metallic boots hit the carpet that laid in the middle, before he looks down to his children. zuko with the scar that he was given as a child from firebending and azula, who smiled at him and leaned on her tiptoes.

“where have you two been?” he questions.

“we were at the beach, father. remember, ty lee wanted me to go out and find her dumb necklace,” azula rolls her amber colored optics as she takes out the piece of jewelry from her pocket, “and now we wait until ty lee comes over again.”

“oh, right. sorry,” he sighs, “you know i just worry about you two because of your mother.”

it was a grim topic for the royal family, so nods were his only answer. the firelord nods back before walking away, and aang bursts out, beginning to whisper with his friends. the firelord turns his head and a loud gasp rumbles out of him.

“oh fu--” azula slaps her palm to her head.

“--oh spirits!” he rushes forward to look at aang with wide eyes.

fear electrifies him, a wild sense of flight or fight making his straightening back hurt. the firelord’s ember eyes are wide and the creases on his face smooth out momentarily. he comes forward and bows, making aang gulp loudly. he bows as well, tattoos on his head shining in the light through the window on the ceiling.

“i am deeply sorry for what my grandfather has done to your nation, air nomad. please accept my apology.” he looks up, as if it was his fault and not sozin’s.

“firelord... i am not sure of your name yet, but let me say, it isn’t your fault that my race faced genocide. it is your grandfathers, but i accept your apology. i’m aang and i’m the avatar, as well.”

“i’m appreciative to have you not angered when you see me. avatar aang, i’m firelord ozai. i’m sure my children have introduced themselves fairly well, but you may stay in the castle as long as you need to.” he nods, smiling with the creases on his face deepening.

“thank you, firelord ozai.” aang smiles back to him, before looking around.

the castle is beautiful, if he was being completely honest. a deep feeling in his gut had told him to be angered that the very nation that killed his own nation, but his heart spoke different. the nomads had taught to forgive but never forget, remember it because it may come back never. there are portraits of the family, with a woman who looks like azula but with a kind face that zuko seemed to have.

ozai had walked away as aang studied the large hallway adorned with decorations that had culture and love in them, obviously shown by the outfits that they wore. he kept looking back to the family portrait, the way that they looked happy, with smiles instead of the normal straight faced portraits that existed.

“may i ask a question?” he turns to the pair.

they both tilt their heads.

“who is the woman next to ozai?” he asks.

the air tenses up and azula looks away, to the ground as if it was the interesting thing at hand. the strands in front of her face cover her eyes now and zuko gulps, rubbing at the back of his neck.

“that was our mother.” zuko grimly speaks, looking at the portrait.

“was?” 

“she died. the water tribe had raided us and killed our mother.” he looks to his mother in the portrait and ignores the stinging tears in his eyes.

“i remember the water tribe being small--how did they raid such a big nation?” this made no sense to aang--the water tribes were divided as well, into northern and southern.

“after you went into hibernation, the water tribes joined forces, making them nearly as big as the air temples. their land has increased and so has their population,” zuko rubs at his arm, tearing his gaze away from the painting, “they’ve taken over basically both sides of the earth now, since the ice has been on a steady rise, the temperature is dropping. they have multiple waterbenders on their side and they have a secret that no one else possesses.”

“what is it?” he asks, feeling a sense of regret in his stomach.

“they have a bloodbender, her name is katara. she controls our forces like they’re nothing, but only on full moons. they attack every full moon and we’re just barely able to fight against her and her army, they’re all master waterbenders.”

“when is the next full moon? i’ll talk to them, since i am the avatar, after all. maybe they’ll listen.” aang is doubtful, but he knows his own duties--to set peace and balance in the world.

“it’s tonight,” azula is scowling, “we have expert firebenders, but only three of us can bend lightning.”

“tonight? then... we should get ready, shouldn’t we? it’s almost nighttime anyway.”

he looks out the window and the stars are in the sky. they’re beautiful against the darkness of the sky, with the moon coming into full tuition. it’s round and perfectly white, setting above where the ceiling window was. azula grabs his hand and runs with him, with zuko following closely behind. they’re sprinting around the castle and bump into ozai and his brother, iroh.

“uncle!” zuko smiles at him and the elder smiles back, bowing to his niece and nephew.

“what’s the plan?” azula asks, eyebrows furrowed.

“you and iroh are going to lightning bend tonight,” ozai sighs, “zuko and i will try to take out most of their forces, along with the rest of the army trying to take out them too. the villagers have all gone inside, we have troops guarding them. avatar aang,” he looks to the young boy, “you will follow iroh and azula. they’re going right to where it matters. is that alright?”

“i... suppose so, i’m not used to fighting. i will try to make peace and only fight if i need to.” aang promises, placing his fists together and bowing.

there is a cry of battle in the distance, and aang knows. they’re here and he’s never felt more worried before. this wasn’t something that he wanted to do, but more, he had to. before going into the hundred year sleep, he had gotten water under his belt. he wasn’t sure that he was going to be able to, especially because he was already running with azula and iroh, who seemed to be unafraid.

[-]

lightning was loud and terrifying, at first making aang jump and freeze as azula pointed her fingertips to the sky and then lightning crackled out of her fingertips and into multiple soldiers, iroh going straight past them. they all wore blue armor with a wolf helmet on, it was something aang had been scared to look at. all of them were the color of coffee with some creamer in it, but they all had the hardened look of war upon their face.

the trio arrived in an empty place of the battlefield, where there were no men laying down and the sand seemed to be uninterrupted with footprints. but, he could hear the taps of feet. heavily armored, that was. looking out, he only saw two people. one was a girl, the other a boy.

“leave!” iroh yelled, crouching into position.

there was no response.

azula didn’t wait for them, blue fire released from her fists. the sand chaotically shifted, dust flying everywhere. but, the two stepped out of the dust, but this time, one had a sword. as the pair got closer, he could see that they were related. harsh blue eyes that stared at him as if he was always less than them. he felt like he was being preyed on, a meal that they were going to eat and destroy.

“i don’t enjoy bending elderly people,” the voice of the girl was soft and beautiful, something that made aang’s heart twist, “but, i would gladly do it to you, iroh of the fire nation.”

iroh stayed in his position for bending, eyebrows furrowed. azula did the same, her right hand pointed to the sky and the other at them. aang walked forward, ignoring the sting in his chest, ignoring the horrifying feeling in his heart.

“sokka,” the girl turns to her brother, “is that who you’ve been looking for?”

“absolutely, katara.” he grins and aims his sword at aang.

it’s sharp, glistening in the moonlight.

“please, leave. you’re attacking this nation and they don’t deserve it.” aang begins, lifting his hands to show he’s no threat.

zuko and ozai come running, but stay behind the other firebenders already there. ozai has his hands on fire, while zuko has two swords drawn behind him. 

“you’re outnumbered here and we don’t want to attack you, they’re just defending their land.” aang continues, eyes pleading.

“you’ve outnumbered yourselves, avatar,” katara yawns, “but, we aren’t here for them. we’re here for you.” 

his eyes widen as he backs up, putting himself between ozai and zuko, where ozai steps in front of aang, like a parent protecting its child.

“tara’,” sokka looks to his sister, “make him come here.”

his limbs feel like jelly, he can’t control them. he is being dragged forward, like he is possessed. aang screams, feeling katara bend the water in his body. zuko screams as well, before grabbing a small rock and throwing it at katara, who is hit and aang drops to the sand, backing away as quickly as he can as water flies over him, turning into ice half way.

a pair of hands grab his feet and he sees sokka smiling at him, dragging him through the sand as aang whips air all around them, sand flying with it. he’s cursing at aang, telling him to stop his shenanigans and give up.

“no!” aang screams, before bending a gust of wind that sends sokka flying, landing in the sand.

water whips at him, tearing his clothes quickly. he looks over to the water and before he can truly think, water rushes over katara who is infuriated at this point.

“give up, avatar!” she yells, bending him once more and he flings towards her and sokka grabs him, holding him by his arms and pining him, strong hands folding his head.

“you want a fight?” azula walked over.

“you’re going to lose, azula,” katara hums as the lake rises to her right arm, “i’ll quench your fire for you!”

blue fire strikes at katara, stream after stream. with a grace that surprises aang, she dodges and twirls around the hot streams and traps azula in an icicle trap, where they’re both unable to breathe. in slow motion, the sashe around her armor is undone and she ties azula up, hands attached to her ankles. the water falls and azula is screaming, fire coming from her throat.

“sokka, run with him back to the ship!” katara orders and before aang can protest, sokka has a knife to his throat and is running with him.

just as he’s shoved onto the metal boat, he looks back to the men who are fighting katara, but zuko catches his eye. the man pauses, only to be frozen with ice, as his sister was. the metal door closes and sokka is there with him, eyes staring into his soul past his helmet.

“you’ve caused a lot of trouble, avatar. fight all you want, but my sister will kill you.” sokka hums.

“what do you want from me?” aang pleads.

“we want you dead.”


	2. enter: blue spirit & blind bandit.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ADMISSION: One.  
> COST: 25 yens.  
> LEI’S BROTHEL.  
> BIDDING OFF WIVES & HARLOTS,  
> FOR YOUR WISHES!

𝘼𝘾𝙏 𝙄 - 𝙋𝘼𝙍𝙏 𝙏𝙒𝙊.

the cellular was freezing, no heat at all inside of his area. his death (he had been having horrible nightmares) was going to be from deprivation--sleep, food and warmth. there was no one here for him and he knew that his newly found fire nation friends would be coming to search for him, but he didn’t know when.

the cut in his clothes remained, while he curled up on the bed, trying to find any way for warmth. wherever he was, all he knew was that he was frigid. meals came once a day, which was something aang had familiarized himself with when he was younger. monks believe in preservation, something that had battled him as a young child but now came in handy as the crew completely isolated him.

his eyes had closed, drifting off into the dream of warmth. instead of metal, soft grass under his feet. maybe the spirits would have mercy upon him--aang never wanted to be avatar. he ran away from his own nation, leaving them to defend against the fire nation. death was something that crossed his optimistic mind more than recently, fear in his heart of becoming a pessimistic person, nomads were supposed to be free and able to detach themselves from worldly issues, but he simply couldn’t. 

the door creaked open as a white haired girl snuck into his cell. her hands were warm, figiditing with some of the chains that held him captive. this was all a dream, he knew it was. this couldn’t have been real, especially because the woman just didn’t seem real.

“wake up, would you?” her voice is whispered.

he immediately opens his eyes, looking to the mocha toned woman. her eyes are lighter than katara’s and her hair is a stark white, as if she was an elder. but, judging by the energy that surrounded her and the way she nimbly moved, she was younger.

“i’ve been awake,” his eyes flint to her removing the chains, “who are you and what are you doing?”

“i’m yue,” she responds, “i’m letting you go, aang. i know your purpose in this world, but i don’t know my own.”

her inner turmoil was something that aang was thankful he didn’t have. he sits up, before being wrapped in thick furs and warmth. it tires him, but he is aware that this is no time for sleep, he doesn’t know where the terror lays in the ship.

“...you’re helping me. why?” he’s confused.

“because, i don’t approve of what they’re doing,” yue looks around with a sigh, “i don’t want to be a part of their reign anymore, even if i’m the princess along with katara. i was the northern princess, before all of this happened.”

“oh. i completely understand, i’m sorry that you’re being forced,” he stands up, wrapping the fur around him, “you know what i have to do, don’t you?”

“i do. the exit is on the first floor, where their rooms are. the full moon is gone, so she won’t be able to bend you. run,” yue looks to him with hopeful eyes, “i’ll run with you for as long as i can.”

aang nods and they walk outside of the room, with yue leading. she is careful, peering around dark corners before the avatar follows suit. there are no creaks or moans in the ship, allowing for a silent escape. she leads him up the stairs, looking everywhere before running off into a seperate room on the first floor, aang slipping in behind her.

“we’ve somehow managed to find some of your past items,” yue explains as she walks to a chest and cracks the lock open, “a glider and a whistle.”

her hand is warm as she hands the items over, and the memories shove him violently. the glider that was ancient, something he used when he was younger and the whistle for his sky bison, who had to be in the fire nation. judging by the rocking of the boat, he knew that they were in the ocean, but the path between the fire nation and the water tribe was an ocean that wasn’t horribly far away. 

“thank you,” aang looks to her, “can you lead me to an exit?”

there are no more words exchanged, only actions that lead aang to the outdoors. the sky is a beautiful shade of blue with soft clouds drifting all around them. there is no one there, but he is still on edge, still violently careful. she looks to him with tears welling up.

“i wish i could come with you. but, i know how it would end.” she watches as he makes the glider open with a woosh of air.

“i will come back to save you, yue. i promise.” he places a hand on her shoulder, before stepping onto the edge of the ship.

the waters were rough, slamming against the ship, but this was his one opportunity of freedom. glancing back to yue, she gives him a smile and a wave. he lifts off, the wind immediately catching under his glider and sending him far ahead of the ship, until he turns around in the air, setting for the way that the ship had came.

riots erupt under him as he passes, turning his head to glance. yue’s wonderful blue eyes widen and her jaw slacks as she screams, a dark sword piercing through her middle. aang screams for her, keeping at a steady pace as he watches her catch her piercer, looking to him with tears streaming down her face.

“you…” she gasps for air in her lungs as the sword digs deeper into her abdomen, ruining her clothing with blood, “...you never loved me.” 

“but, i did,” sokka softly sighs, “you know how important this was to me. death was your only option, traitor.”

his sword retracts as she falls to her knees, slamming into the metal as if it didn’t make her kneecaps feel broken. her blood pools under her and sokka stands over her, blue eyes slowly drifting to the avatar. dread captures him as their eyes catch each others. the watertribe man smirks as aang flies back to the fire nation, trying to ignore the way his heart stung just to think about the girl he had gotten slaughtered.

yue was innocent--she was following her heart, unlike them.

how was he ever supposed to place peace and balance in the world? as much as he raked his brain for an answer, it wasn’t until he landed in the warm sands of the fire nation that he realized, he couldn’t do this alone. he needed help.

[-]

zuko and azula had greeted him quickly, engulfing him in a hug that he desperately needed. he goes into detail with the firelord’s family about what they had said, and iroh was shaking his head, not shocked but saddened.

“you’re just a young boy,” iroh sighs as he pours jasmine tea into each cup, “they’re just as young as zuko and azula yet so blood thirsty. the blindness in which they have is incurable.”

“in better news,” azula was never one to lighten the mood, in fact, she usually dampened it with a lack of empathy that had came from their father, “we know an earthbending teacher for you, aang. we’ve seen her in earth rumble six, which is dirty and full of peasantry, but she destroyed her competition. she’s blind, but a fair match to myself.”

“her name is toph beifong,” ozai hums in thought, “which is funny, considering everytime that we have ever met with the beifongs, they have not spoken of their daughter, as if they are ashamed by her blindness, but she is powerful. they should appreciate that she hasn’t turned on them yet.”

aang listens to them speak, but there is no true connection between the person sitting at the table in the fire nation and his running mind. death wasn’t truly scary to monks, but to a twelve year old boy, it was scarier than he wanted. it horrified him that someone wanted to see his bald head on a silver platter and they would be sated, finally happy with what they’ve done.

“we have to go to the earth kingdom as soon as possible. we found this… whistle that looks a little dumb but it was connected into my mother’s grandfather.” zuko speaks as he reaches into a pocket on his golden sashe, pulling out an animal shaped whistle.

“oh--oh my god!” aang exclaims, immediately snatching it from his hand.

before anyone could stop his excitement, he races out of the castle with wind flying behind him and the minute he’s outside, he blows the whistle as hard as he could. no sound is audible to humans, only a specific animal can hear it. a loud roar signals the noise back and there he is--appa with a little lemur, that had to be momo, was flying in the sky and made his way over to aang with his tail slamming into the sand.

he rushes forward and wraps his arms around his torso, euphoric tears falling down his cheeks. after going into the rock, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever wake up again or see any of his old animals. to the extent of his memory, he was basically a farmer when he was with the monks, taking care of fish, donkeyhorses, sabertooth moose lions, sky bisons and lemurs. to see the ones that he had specifically loved, it made his heart erratic.

momo chirped around him, flying around him until finally resting on his shoulder and licking his cheek, to which aang giggled and the bison groaned again, before aang resumed scratching his coat and pressing loving kisses into him.

“what is that? why do you have a rat on your shoulder?” azula asks, making him jump as she snuck up with zuko.

“it’s not a rat, it’s a lemur! his name is momo and this is appa, my flying bison.” he excitedly introduces the animals and zuko is disgusted when appa licks him, which makes aang raise an eyebrow.

“i don’t know why he likes me so much,” zuko lies, although he knew exactly why, “but, i’m just glad he isn’t eating me.”

“can we go to the earth kingdom now?” aang asks, tilting his head.

“...i see no reason why not. father expected us to be gone soon, so we can just leave now.” azula nods and launches herself upon appa’s old saddle.

zuko joins her on the leather and aang grabs the handles, relishing in the familiar feel. his jaw is beginning to hurt from the smiles, but there was nothing that would’ve made him feel better after the water tribe siblings confessing their wants about his life.

“yip-yip!” aang tugs the leashes and they’re launched off into the sky. without trying, appa seems to know exactly where he was going.

[-]

his life was threatened when he was in the earth kingdom--the two nations had never gotten along. but, when he caught wind that the earth kingdom had a sky bison, he just had to save them. his legion was notorious for killing and hunting the rarest of animals, but he felt quite the difference. every turtleduck with a hurt wing was taken into his warm hands and eagerly took advantage of the care. 

the mask was falling apart, but he had managed to glue it back together. his uncle had followed him here, but didn’t know of his current location. the blue of the mask was more vibrant under the lights of the underground than the sun, while he listened for heavy breathing of a heavy animal. these walls were metal and earth, built by long fei’s devious army. his sister was busy destroying the corrupt army from the inside, while he was busying himself with other pressing matters.

before he could react, a roar had released from a tiny door, but he quickly pressed himself against it. his working eye and his non-seeing eye closed, listening. heavy breathing, shifting and chains rattling. this was exactly what he was looking for, exactly the animal. cracking the door open, the bison became eerily silent as he entered, with his mask on. 

the animal roared, but when his twin swords had cut the chains immediately, the bison licked him, much to his dismay. the door opened and he stood there, swords drawn for any danger. 

“zuko?”

[-]

“zuko!” azula’s voice sharpens him from the daydream, as he looks over the side of the saddle. the earth kingdom in sight, right below them.

“i hope there’s a nice place for you to land, buddy.” aang sighs as the bison tears a few trees apart as he lands, resting in the middle of a barren land, besides from the earth growing around them.

the trio hop off of the bison, as momo flies around to hunt for some small food that he could devour. his own stomach rumbled in response, but he knew that they would find something to eat in the little village that they had stopped in.

“we should head into town,” zuko offers, “maybe we’ll hear something about the beifongs.”

the trek is long, something that aang disliked when mixed with the muggy heat of the earth kingdom, but with the cool breezes that came along and ruffled his robes, it was nice. the village was pretty, full of colors and seemingly nice people. apparently, the town name was gaoling and the people that they were looking for were rich, staked with money that the avatar couldn’t possibly imagine what to do with.

“come get your tickets for tonight,” a salesman called as he walked down the dirt street, “bidding off wives and harlots at lei’s brothel!”

“...disgusting.” azula spat on the ground, looking away from the man as he came over.

“are you two men interested in these tickets? tonight, there are going to be special guests,” he grins as he speaks, something that disgusted aang to his root, “the richest family known to the earth kingdom is going to be there.”

“...we’d like three tickets.” zuko shoves the money forward and three tickets are in his hand.

“why are we going there!?” azula hisses, the look of lividity in her eyes.

“...the beifongs are going to be there, and i don’t know about you, azula, but i have a strong feeling that they’re putting toph up for sale like some fucking property.” zuko responds and they all look to the ground, knowing that what zuko had said was probably going to be the sickening truth.

and to their dismay, it was. she’s not the youngest upon that stage, but aang knows she’s the prettiest there. not only was she young and fertile, she was helpless and blind, but he had a feeling in his gut that there was something she was hiding. a deeper secret that zuko and azula also knew, which was her earthbending.

“we have toph beifong,” an older man announces as she walks forward, eyes showing no emotions as she sees no crowd, but knows her fate, “the bidding starts at 100, 000 yens.”

“you’re real lucky that we’re royalty,” zuko grumbles, “otherwise we wouldn’t be doing this.”

the first bid is 100,050 yen. then, the price goes up by the 100,000’s. zuko and azula stay silent, while aang is bouncing his leg up and down. a voice so soft, a voice so elegant speaks up and he’s horrified to know exactly who the voice belongs to.

“600,000 yen.” katara speaks, but she isn’t aware of the person she is in the room with.

zuko’s face visibly pales--not at the cost of the yen, but at the person. sokka is next to her, eyes intently staring at toph as if she was a meal. his stomach twists with protection--

“1,000,000 yen!” zuko yells and the room gasps.

toph only smiles on stage, batting her eyelashes and not even bothering to try and glance in his direction. the bidder calls final and she ignores the way that some men are growling, snarling as if they were animals. and in her deepest opinion, they weren’t animals and they certainly weren’t humans. if you wanted to touch her twelve year old body, she wanted to drive the metal knife through your throat.

she steps off of stage and has her fists brought together as she walks quietly, ignoring the wolf whistles that sicken her. walking past her parents, she coughs and sneezes on purpose, leaving them to gasp. they deserve every illness that they shall receive, for the monsters that they are. 

a rough hand grasps hers as she walks past and she turns her head immediately, unseeing eyes full of venom.

“what a shame,” his voice is younger, higher pitched, “they wanted you for sex, but we know who you are. we know the powerful earthbender within you, toph.”

“and what is your name?” she asks, voice sickeningly sweet, pumping her veins with poison.

“sokka.” he winks, but it is missed.

zuko watches, leg bouncing the entirety of the time. the time slows as her free hand flies up and the metal knife that was once peacefully resting for food with their ‘property’ was now liquidated at his neck. her thin fingers are dangerously sharp, and part of him never wanted to see the muscles that laid under her dress.

“i hope that you rot.” she’s growling, like the men were earlier.

azula besides him grins at the power, she’s enjoying the way that toph is visibly showing her superiority against the enemy. that was something she needed out of a friend--she would get along with mai and ty lee splendidly.

the watertribe man is left in shock and pain that he didn’t bid higher for her. of course, she was strong. she had such a presence that he couldn’t help but stare, he knew that something was different about her. he watches as she walks away, hands now curled up in fists besides her. but, the table she walks to makes him stand up immediately.

“well,” toph blinks uselessly to the new people who bought her, “i think we’ve made an enemy and it is time for us to leave.”

a stream of water cuts between her and zuko, making aang yelp and the trio dashes out the door, before azula sends blue flames the water tribes way. toph is fast, keeping up with the airbender. she turns around, sensing the siblings nearby. she raises her hands and sends a rock wall flying past them, grimacing when she hears the slice of water.

the forest is far, but they find their way fast. she’s still in her white dress with green and pink accents as she’s aided onto appa with a snarky comment as to how she needed no help, but they’re far into the sky before anyone acknowledges her attitude.

“...i knew i recognized you two!” toph grins, eyes looking right the space of where zuko and azula sat. 

“glad to see you safe, beifong.” zuko sighs.

“i didn’t know you could metalbend!” azula grins, her happiness is laid elsewhere.

“invented it myself,” she’s prideful, something that makes aang chuckle, “greatest earthbender in the world! also, where are we going?”

“back to the fire nation. can you teach aang earthbending?” zuko asks as the bison comes to gently land in the sand, groaning as everyone hopped off of him.

“yeah, if you get me out of this horrid dress.” toph shrugs, the sand hardening and smoothing under her, to make sure she no longer sank. 

“you can sandbend, earthbend, and metalbend? is there anything you can’t do!?” aang is in a childish state, where he feels like a kid on their birthday. 

“yeah,” toph looks to the left of him, “i can’t see for shit.”


End file.
